Nexit nears €100m target for tech fund

The Scandinavian venture capital firm has raised €75m to date for a fund focused on mobile and wireless technology firms.

Nexit Ventures has held a €75 million second close on Nexit Infocom II, a fund raising €100 million to invest in mobile technology companies.

The fund will target early and mid-stage mobile and wireless technology companies the Nordic countries and the United States.

The first closing took place in March this year, on €50 million, and a final close is expected in early 2009.

Mobile phone giant Nokia and Tapiola, a Finnish insurance provider, are among the most recent investors in Nexit Infocom II, plus a number of private investors.

“Our focus sector has a very strong outlook for the coming five to 10 years and beyond, but is of course not immune to the current economic downturn,” Michel Wendell, Nexit general partner, said in a statement.

The fund has invested in four companies so far, including Axel Technologies, Ekahau and Conformiq. In June it invested $12.5 million in Funambol, a US-based provider of mobile 2.0 messaging.

Nexit operates from Helsinki, Stockholm and Silicon Valley.